Top aides to President Joe Biden have been crafting a proposal to create a sovereign wealth fund that would allow the U.S. to invest in national security interests including technology, energy, and critical links in the supply chain, according to people familiar with the effort.

The behind-the-scenes work by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Daleep Singh, mirrors — at least in spirit — a proposal floated Thursday by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called for a government-owned investment fund to finance "great national endeavors” during a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

Sullivan and Singh have been working on the project for months across a series of weekly brainstorming efforts, and have met with economic experts on the National Security Council to debate the size, structure, funding, leadership, and potential guardrails for a proposed fund.